Memorial slated for airman lost in Vietnam War

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Memorial slated for airman lost in Vietnam War

'NO CLOSURE': Family not convinced Robert 'Skeeter' Simmons died, but items found will be buried in family's plot

By MARTHA ELLEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2008

HEUVELTON — An airman missing in action in the Vietnam War will be remembered later this month at the Amvets post in Heuvelton, and some of his remains will be buried in a family plot in DePeyster.

But the ceremony won't be the end of the story for some of the family of Robert E. "Skeeter" Simmons, who was on a U.S. Air Force AC-130A Spectre when it was shot down March 29, 1972, over Laos.

"There's no closure and there probably never will be," said his sister, Cherie Stevens, Hamilton. "We're no farther ahead than we were."

Mr. Simmons, an E3, was among 14 men aboard a gunship that took off from Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, on an armed reconnaissance mission over southern Laos. The aircraft crashed when it was struck by an enemy surface-to-air missile. Search and rescue efforts were stopped after a few days because of heavy enemy activity, according to a news release from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office.

A tooth belonging to Mr. Simmons was found at the crash scene in 1986 by a joint U.S.-Laotian team. The tooth was rejected by his mother, Rita M. Simmons, Otselic, who thought it flimsy evidence at the time of what happened to her son.

A ring Mr. Simmons had made for his girlfriend also was found, but no mention of it was made until more recent discoveries at the crash scene.

Between 2005 and 2006, joint teams resurveyed the site and excavated it twice, finding more remains. They identified three other teeth as belonging to Mr. Simmons. DNA testing concluded all four of the teeth belonged to Mr. Simmons.

"It's probably all we're ever going to get. If they're his, they belong back here," Mrs. Simmons said. "To me, they might be his teeth, but it's not him."

Finding teeth at the crash site doesn't prove her son died there, Mrs. Simmons said. The teeth could have been knocked out by the crash or her son might have been tortured by his captors, she said.

"The government just tries to close everything up," she said.

Mrs. Simmons hasn't given up hope that her son is still alive.

"It's hard to say," she said. "He was born in 1951. He wouldn't be a young man anymore."

Mrs. Simmons took the Air Force to court to keep her son's case active but eventually gave it up as fruitless.

"We hadn't heard anything for over 20 years and all of a sudden, this was dumped on her," Ms. Stevens said.

In honor of Mr. Simmons, the Heuvelton Amvets will host a remembrance service from 1 to 5 p.m. Aug. 23. Medals that were due Mr. Simmons will be presented to his mother at approximately 2 p.m.

"Anybody is welcome to come and show their respect," Mrs. Simmons said.

Mr. Simmons's teeth, the ring, a uniform and other personal effects will be buried with full military honors, including a fly-over, at 11 a.m. Aug. 24 at Purmont Cemetery, where the family put up a memory stone last year.

Memorial donations may be sent to the Robert E. Simmons Scholarship Fund, c/o Cherie Stevens, P.O. Box 146, Hamilton, 13346, for future military recruits.